This ppt is a summary and representation of a part of a unit in the ILEC BOOK- Interview with a client. Breach of Contract.

1. Initial interview with a client
GREETING: NICE TO
SEE YOU AGAIN/ IT´S
A PLEASURE TO
MEET YOU
EXPLAINING
WHAT HAPPENS
IN THE
INTERVIEW: I´LL
BE ASKING YOU
SOME
QUESTIONS…
IDENTIFY THE
NATURE OF THE
FACTS: WOULD
YOU LIKE TO
TELL ME WHY
YOU ARE HERE
TODAY?
SUMMARISING: SO, IF I
UNDERSTAND YOU
CORRECTLY… /ALLOW ME
TO SUMMARISE WHAT
YOU´VE SAID
AVOID DISGRESSIONS: let´s
return to the course of events…
ASSESSING THE CASE: I think
we have a good chance of
convincing the court that… / As
I see it, we have good reason to
be optimistic…

2. INITIAL INTERVIEW
Describing next
moves: Let me go
through the file a read
through the contract.
Then, I ´ll prepare
the complaint, which
we will file at the end
of next week
I ´ll call you next
week and let you
know how things look
You´ll hear from me
in a few days.
Thank you for
entrusting me with
this matter. Goodbye!

3. TYPES OF BREACH: MATERIAL,
IMMATERIAL AND ANTICIPATORY.
 Breach of contract is a legal cause of action, in
which a binding agreement is not honored by one of
the parties to the contract.
 One party does not fulfill his contractual promise, or
GIVES INFORMATION to the other party that he
WILL NOT PERFORM his duty as mentioned in the
contract.

4. ANTICIPATORY BREACH:
 A party announces his intention not to fulfill the
contract.
 The non-breaching party can “take the other party at
his word” and consider that the notification releases
him from his contractual obligation to perform.
 The non – b. party can bring an action for damages.
 The second option is to wait until the time when the
performance was to take place, still holding the
contract as prospective binding.

5. ANTICIPATORY BREACH II
 Other position states that THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF
INTENT TO BREACH should be treated as an offer to
rescind.
 Not as a breach.
 Thus the other party would keep the option to rescind until
the date of performance, and the non b. party would have
to remain ready to perform, because if it accepted the offer
to rescind, that would prevent any recovery.
 RELIANCE PRINCIPLE: If a party promises to do s.t. in the
future: commits to refrain from doing s.t. that difficults to
fulfil his promise.

6. MINOR OR IMMATERIAL BREACH
 In a "minor" breach (a partial breach or immaterial breach
or where there has been substantial performance), the
non-breaching party cannot sue for specific performance,
and can only sue for actual damages.
 A homeowner hires a contractor to install new plumbing.
Insists that the pipes, which will ultimately be hidden
behind the walls, must be red. The contractor instead uses
blue pipes that function just as well. Although the
contractor breached the literal terms of the contract, the
homeowner cannot ask a court to order the contractor to
replace the blue pipes with red pipes.

7. MATERIAL BREACH
 Any failure to perform that permits the other party to
the contract to either compel performance, or collect
damages because of the breach. I
 If the pipe contractor had been instructed to use
copper pipes, and used iron pipes that would not last
as long as the copper pipes would have lasted, the
homeowner can recover the cost of actually correcting
the breach - taking out the iron pipes and replacing
them with copper pipes.